When are drivers required to notify you of something that happened on the road, such as a roadside inspection, warning, or a ticket? How much is going on as far as your drivers’ licenses are concerned that you are not aware of? If you do not have a policy in this area, the answers to these questions may surprise you.
Roadside Inspection
After a roadside inspection is completed, the officer is to provide a copy of the report to the driver. The driver is then to get it to the carrier within 24 hours. If the driver will not be returning to a carrier facility within 24 hours, the driver must immediately send the report to the carrier via mail, fax, or some other means. This requirement is found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations in §396.9.
How do you know if your drivers are turning these in? It is actually fairly simple. Look at your data in the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Safety Measurement System (SMS) at ai.fmcsa.dot.gov and verify that you have copies of all of the reports referenced in the system. The other option is to use a service provider (such as J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.) to review your data for you and report any discrepancies.
Convictions
When a conviction for a traffic offense must be reported to the company depends on what type of license the driver has. If the driver has a CDL, then the driver must report all convictions to you in writing within 30 days. If the conviction has led to a suspension or revocation, the driver must report that to you the next business day. This is covered in the regulations at §383.31 and §383.33.
If the driver does not have a CDL (operates a commercial vehicle not requiring a CDL and does not have one), the driver must provide a list of all traffic violations that he/she has been convicted of once per year. Just like the CDL drivers, any suspension or revocation must be reported the next business day. This is covered in the regulations at §391.11 and §391.27.
Just an FYI: Some drivers do not believe they are required to report an incident where they simply “pay the fine” but do not directly “plead guilty.” This is based on the belief that they were not “convicted.” However, the FMCSA regulations use a broad definition of “convicted.” If the driver had to pay a fine or “sacrifice the bond” to settle the ticket, or a judgment of any kind was issued against the driver, as far as the FMCSA is concerned the driver was convicted. This is true even though the driver did not say or hear the words “guilty as charged.”
Tickets, Warnings, and ‘Other Stuff’
Concerning the reporting of a ticket when it is received, the regulations do not require a driver to report it to his/her carrier. Also, formal warnings are not discussed anywhere in the regulations, so there is no reporting requirement for them. Verbal and “in-house” warnings that some law enforcement agencies issue are also not covered by any reporting regulations.
How can you catch it?
The most common way that driver activity (other than roadside inspections) can be found is through MVRs. Both convictions and suspensions will appear on the driver’s MVR. In some cases, unresolved tickets will also appear on the MVR as a “violation” without a conviction date. In rare cases, warnings may even show up on the driver’s MVR. However, knowing what is happening with your drivers is too important to leave to a once-a-year function that may or may not show what is going on.
A company policy bridges the gap
Requiring drivers to report any contact with law enforcement, no matter the outcome, is one way to prevent surprises. Knowing that the driver was pulled over and ticketed allows you to be prepared for what may happen when the driver goes to court. This includes preparing for the driver’s time off for the court date as well as the possible consequences of a conviction.
Why is being informed about warnings also important? Knowing that you have had several of your drivers warned for the same thing in the same area can provide you the opportunity to get the word out to all of the drivers “not to do that there anymore,” or risk receiving a ticket.
Without such a policy in place, the first warning you have that a driver may be in danger of losing his/her license is when the driver comes in and tells you it has just been suspended due to “yesterday’s conviction.”
Update 9/28/2012
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